CALGARY, Alta. - Canada’s National Sledge Team has confirmed the 17-player roster that will represent Canada at the 2016 World Sledge Hockey Challenge, Jan. 17-23 at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater, N.S.

Canada faces off against Korea, Russia and the United States in the National Sledge Team’s first competition in the province of Nova Scotia.

The roster includes two goaltenders, five defencemen and 10 forwards. All but two of the 17 players were part of the squad that captured silver at the 2015 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. (Arsenault, Block, Bowden, Bridges, Delaney, Dixon, Dorion, Gemmell, Larocque, McGregor, Sholomicki, Sorley, Watson, Westlake, Whitson), while defenseman Rob Armstrong and forward Dominic Cozzolino made their debuts earlier this season, winning gold with Canada at the International Ice Sledge Hockey Tournament in Turin, Italy.

Canada opens the 2016 World Sledge Hockey Challenge against Russia at 5 p.m. AT on Sunday, Jan. 17. The Canadians also play Korea at 7 p.m. AT on Monday, Jan. 18, and the United States at 7 p.m. AT on Wednesday, Jan. 20, in preliminary-round action.

Ticket packages are available for $50, providing admission to the six preliminary-round games, as well as both semifinals, and the bronze- and the gold-medal games. Please visit HockeyCanada.ca/tickets for ticket information, including how to purchase.

“The December event in Italy was a very good way for our team to prepare for our biggest challenge so far this season. We will be facing good teams who play with plenty of speed and skill,” said Ken Babey, head coach of Canada’s National Sledge Team. "We are looking forward to playing these teams in Bridgewater and creating more awareness about the sport of sledge hockey.”

In the tournament’s eight-year history, Canada has won five gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze. Canada beat Korea 4-1 in the bronze-medal game at the 2015 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Leduc, Alta.

Semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. AT. Both the bronze- and gold-medal games will be played on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. AT.

All preliminary-round games, as well as the semifinals and bronze-medal game, will be webcast through FASTHockey on the game summary pages at HockeyCanada.ca/wshc. 

The gold-medal game of the 2016 World Sledge Hockey Challenge will be aired on TSN and RDS, official broadcasters of Hockey Canada. Please check your local listings for details.

For more information on Canada’s National Sledge Team and the 2016 World Sledge Hockey Challenge, please visit HockeyCanada.ca and HockeyCanada.ca/wshc, or follow along via social media at Facebook.com/hcsledge, Twitter.com/hc_sledge, Facebook.com/worldsledge and Twitter.com/hc_wshc.